Geelong star Bailey Smith wants to feature as a Channel Seven AFL commentator and it could happen before the midpoint of this season, according to one of the broadcaster’s leading footy voices.
The 25-year-old is keen to pursue the role in order to get fans to see him in a new light as a keen student of the game, according to respected AFL reporter Caroline Wilson.
Footballers commentating on their rivals while they’re still playing is a rarity for the AFL.
‘What I have found out in the last couple of days is that Bailey Smith wants football people to see a new side of Bailey Smith, and that is his footy IQ,’ Wilson said on Seven’s The Agenda Setters on Tuesday night.
‘He wants to work for Channel Seven on game days.
‘I’m not saying he’s going to come in as a special commentator during matches right now, but I can tell you that before midway through this season, I reckon we’re going to see Bailey Smith analysing games, potentially at halftime, pre-game or potentially post-game.
Footy star Bailey Smith is keen to work as a commentator for Channel Seven – and he could start with the broadcaster this season
Working as a commentator while still playing is a rarity for footballers (Smith is pictured with fans earlier this month)
Smith wants to be seen as a student of the game, according to Seven’s Caroline Wilson
‘I think there’s a real feeling that even people at Geelong say when he first went there and when he was interviewed and when they were looking at vision [of games], that he was stopping vision at really good times and making some really good observations.’
Seven reported that the Cats are supposedly OK with Smith taking his first step into TV work.
One of the team’s assistant coaches, Nathan Buckley, works as an analyst for Fox Sports.
Fans already saw a different side of Smith last year as he made a stunning admission after a season full of controversy.
The former Bulldogs star revealed he spent four weeks in a psych ward in 2024 after suffering an injury that threatened to derail his promising career.
He made the big reveal at the AFL Awards night to celebrate his selection in the All Australian team and an AFLCA coaches award in his first season with Geelong.
Smith missed the 2024 season after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament during a training session in December 2023 with the Dogs.
At the time, he joked about the injury and wrote, ‘ah well, she’ll be right’ on social media.
However, Smith confessed that he had struggled with the mental impact of the injury and checked himself into a psych ward after taking some time off in Europe.
‘It was about a year ago I got out of a psych ward, I was in Epworth Camberwell for like four weeks,’ Smith said.
‘I got a couple of hours out a day, and I spent that sort of training and I went through a really dark time,’ he added.
‘I know it’s just an injury, but until you sort of experience it, and have a sense of identity sort of taken away and some teething issues with moving clubs and outside noise… so I’m super grateful to be on the other side of it.’
